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Title	2011 Nov - Deerwalk Hiking from Ranipauwa to Nuwakot
Location	Nuwakot
Date	26th November, 2011
Total Time	1 Day (8.5 hrs)
Coordinator	Dambar Thapa
Participants	Dambar Thapa, Nisha Sharma Pandit, Shukra Shrestha, Aawart Adhikari, Rosina Shakya, Resha Sedhai, Suman Shrestha, Sajjan Shrestha, Sumit Kumar Shrestha, Ramesh Banjade, Sunil Manandhar, Basanta Amatya
Photos By	Sunil Manandhar, Sumit Kumar Shrestha, Nisha Sharma Pandit
Report By	Suman Shrestha, Ramesh Banjade
Captions	Suman Shrestha, Ramesh Banjade
Creative Support	Dambar Thapa

It was a brilliant Saturday morning when we gathered at the office around 7:30am and a few of the hikers joined us from Balaju. We traversed the Balaju-Bypass road and the beautiful scenery of mountain range and view of distant hills greeted us with a promise of an enjoyable day ahead. We arrived in the Ranipaunwa from Kathmandu after a drive of about 40 minutes. We had a breakfast there and heard from the locals that Sisneri was only a hour away. So in search for a tougher route, we decided to go to Nuwakot Durbar (about 5-6 hours on foot). We started around 9:30 am and everyone was ready to walk for 5-6 hours however we all knew that it was going to be a tough hike. We went downhill through Thangsingh V.D.C enjoying magnificent view of the greenery. We picked and relished in pomelo (भोगटे) and Oranges during the course of our journey. We forged ahead asking the locals for direction. As we ascended higher we saw fewer houses and people and we had to rest on occasions and each such occasion rewarded us with magnificence of greenery of the adjoining hills and valleys. We also went through another small village Chaturali. It was a small and interesting village community living off the land and rearing livestock. We had to cross a small river before reaching the Malkot. After resting for awhile, we continued our hike with hungry and tired faces. Then we crossed 336 meter long Malkot-Shera suspension bridge to reach Shera at around half past three in the afternoon. Here we get to know that Malkot is one fort of Nuwakot along with Belkot, Kalikot, Bhairavkot, Dhuwankot, Pyaskot, Simalkot, Dhaibunkot and Salyankot. We climbed up the hill for almost 2 hours to reach Nuwakot Durbar which was our final destination. The historical palace area of Nuwakot located at 76 km far north-west of Kathmandu has been regarded as an important place since ancient time. The Saat Tale Darbar (Seven Storied Palace) is the main attraction of Nuwakot. It was built by Prithivi Narayan Shah by evicting labourers from Lalitpur in 1762 and still it is regarded as a model of effluent architecture. It was already 5:30pm when we reached Nuwakot Durbar. So we just roamed around Sat Tale Darbar, Taleju temple and had some photographs. We had meal around 6pm in the Hotel, then we headed back towards Kathmandu in the van with tired legs but a satiated heart and a relaxed-peaceful mind. It was a memorable day for all the participants of the hike. Hikers Experience:

Sajjan Shrestha: “It was just amazing, fun & adventurous hike for me. All those landscape, bhogate, tiredness ,leg pain and river crossing will always remain unforgettable. And most importantly I enjoyed the company of Dambar, Sunil, Rosina, Nisha, Resha, Ramesh, Suman, Sumit , Aawart, Shukra & Basant. So I like to thank Dambar, Sumit and the rest of the hikers for changing the destination of our hike to Nuwakot instead of Sisneri. Otherwise it wouldn't be as fun as we had in this hike. Therefore for me this hike ROCKED although it was tough.....:)”

Reshu Shedain: “This was my first hike from deerwalk and i enjoyed it fully. The hike destination was completely new to me.It was very beautiful and serene place. We walked for almost 8 hours enjoying the nature and eating "Bhogatey"all the way. I got a chance to become familiar with many people during the hike. All were very helpful and caring. Of course I was very tired but the company was awesome. Overall the hike was incredible.”

Rosina Shakya: “The start of the day with sunshine gave a pleasant feeling for the hike. I had never been to Ranipauwa and so the excitement began from the day the hike was set. On reaching the starting point, there went discussions of where exactly we should head and how. The boys were busy discussing while we girls were happy fetching the sun. The short hike turn out to be a really long one with the steep downhills. It was a real pain when more than half the day we had to go down and down and down. But along the way, we fueled ourselves with pomelo and some oranges directly from the trees. Finally reaching the destination after climbing the steepy hill, we could cherish our accomplishment what had seemed impossible earlier. It gave a sheer pleasure when we could see the sublime beauty of the mountains and the rivers we had crossed. ”

Ramesh Banjade: “The hike was really fun. During the journey, it was nice to see fantastic view on the way to Ranipaunwa to Nuwakot. We had a lot of funny jokes . We walked around 8 hours but I didn’t know how the time had spend. Thank you all for making wonderful moment, I enjoyed a lot! ”

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